


A Mountain Escape

by HotMayonnaise



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: Adult Content, Adventure, Conflict, Consent Issues, Explicit Sexual Acts, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Masterbation, Mutual genitalia touching, Non-Consensual Voyeurism, Public Nudity, Vacation, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:41:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26118973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotMayonnaise/pseuds/HotMayonnaise
Summary: Tora, Poppy, Gyu and Quincey leave Narin City for a long weekend and head into mountains for an autumn vacation.
Relationships: Tora/Poppy Wilkes
Comments: 49
Kudos: 145





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first fanfic. Please be gentile with me!  
> This is the inspiration for the location of this piece. I live in the next town over and have frequented it for many, many years. I thought it would be a good backdrop for the gang to get some R&R. The name makes me smile too. Ive added some necessary details for the plot, so obviously its not exactly how it is in real life. The authors of this blog did a fantastic job showcasing the Hot Spring’s magic. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it!
> 
> https://www.whyweseek.com/strawberry-park-hot-springs-colorado/
> 
> Disclaimer:  
> Any similarities between “A Mountain Escape” and MPL Canon is purely coincidental and unintentional. The characters in this story are IP of LilyDusk. Some are OC’s of my own for the sake of the plot.  
> I abide by all of the guidelines for MPL fanfic.

Poppy gazed intently out the open window of Gyu’s pickup tuck as they snaked their way up the mountain. She was absolutely awestruck. Never in her life had she seen foliage like this. Dense shrubbery clothed in beautiful harvest tones and burgundy blanketed the forest floor and the hillsides, surrounding islands of the most delicate looking trees Poppy had ever seen.

They were long and slender and impossibly tall as they swayed in the breeze. Silent giants cloaked in white and black bark, reminding her of royal guards of the forest with their golden crown of leaves. She watched as the wind rippled through them. They looked to like they were quaking, shivering in the cool autumn breeze, barely hanging on to their branches. 

Their companions though were much taller and darker. Huge evergreen pillars that stood shoulder to shoulder like soldiers. They too swayed with the wind. She smiled to herself, taking note of the similarities of the trees. One delicate, one stoic. Both strong in their own right, dancing together to the music of the earth. 

She let out a sigh and propped her elbow on the windowsill, chin between her thumb and forefinger. Deep in thought as the autumn breeze tousled her hair through the open window. Tora glanced over at her, curious.

“What’s on ya mind, sweetheart?”

She closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply before answering. Taking in the scents of the earth. The smell of pine in the air, the sound of the wind crashing through the leaves of the trees, filling her senses. 

“I’m just admiring how beautiful and different the forest is here,” 

She pressed her lips into a line, trying to memorize the planes of the earth. 

“I cant wait to paint it when we get home. It’s so unbelievably breathtaking, Tora.”

She exhaled the breath she was holding and continued her studies on the trees.  
She couldn’t pull her gaze away from the view.

Tora reached his hand across the console and took her free hand in it, admiring this feircly intelligent woman sitting beside him, softly rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. He smiled inwardly to himself, silently thanking whatever gods felt they needed to bless him by having this tiny woman come crashing into his life.

As they rounded the last corner of the dirt road, the parking lot came into view. Poppy leaned around the back of her seat and gently patted the two sleeping beauties on the thigh.

“Quince, Gyu, wake up were about there.”

Gyu picked his head up off the windowsill, and winced slightly at the kink in his neck. He ran a hand down his face and on to his neck, attempting to rub out some of the stiffness. He stared blankly out the window, unable to form a coherent thought. Poppy watched Gyu try in vain to ease the knot out of his shoulder.

“Don’t worry Gyu, as soon as we get checked in and get our stuff moved to the cabins, you can go down to the hot springs and recover from your car nap.” 

He smiled at her sheepishly and mumbled something that sounded like an agreement. 

Looking across the back seat, Poppy eyed the very large blonde man folded into the space behind her. Even now, crammed into the backseat of this truck he looked impeccable. Slightly annoyed with how perfect he still managed to be, she smacked him again, lighter than she wanted. 

“Quincey, hey. Wake up.”

He didn’t look very comfortable. The poor man had to practically fold himself in half to get in the backseat. Poppy insisted on him sitting behind her because she could scoot her chair up nearly under the dashboard and still have leg room. Giving Quincy some much needed space for his long legs. She supposed it was better than if he had tried to stuff himself into the space behind Tora.  
The two brothers, although nearly complete opposites, were similar in their build and stature, with Quincy being only slightly leaner and just a tad shorter than Tora. They were both insultingly tall, at well over six feet.  
Gyu agreed with Poppy about their seating arrangements, and insisted on sitting behind Tora, pointing out the obvious difference in height between himself and Quincy, Gyu claiming that at five feet and seven inches, he didn’t need the room. It didn’t take much convincing. 

Poppy swatted Quincey again, harder this time. 

“Quincey!”

A slight grunt came out of the slumbering man. 

“OI QUINCE!” 

The large, stoic man beside her always had a way of getting what he wanted. She silently thanked him while she willed her heart rate to slow after he startled her with his booming voice. 

If Quincey hadn’t been buckled in and stuffed into the space behind Poppy’s chair, he would have probably clung to the ceiling of Gyu’s pickup like a frightened cat. 

“Christ I’m Awake! Quit hollering at me Booboo-” 

“Were here Quincey!”

She cut him off, barely squeaking out her statement, brimming with excitement. Tora rose an eyebrow at her, casting her a sidelong smirk. 

“Oh quit giving me the hairy eyeball, Tora. Ive been waiting for this trip for months!” 

Tora pulled into the ‘overnight guests’ parking area and Poppy was out of the truck before he could kill the engine.  
She stood there in the middle of the parking lot in complete gaping wonder, staring up at the trees towering above them. Tora watcher her from the truck, leaning against the bed of the pickup, before silently making his way over to her. She was so lost in the magic of the forest, that she hadn’t heard Tora approach her from behind. He leaned in close to her ear, and spoke in a bare whisper.

“If ya look up any farther than that, your going to fall over backwards and I’ll have to stitch up the back of ya head.” 

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the proximity of his words. For a man built like a cathedral, he was absolutely silent on his feet, something that always severely impressed Poppy, but also caught her off guard nearly everyday. She whipped around to counter him, but he caught her by the shoulders and kissed her briefly on the forehead before turning on his heel and heading back to the truck to start gathering up all their things. 

“I’ll be honest with ya Quince, Im surprised. I figured ya’d have at lest 6 bags.” 

Tora hoisted his and Poppy’s two bags over one shoulder, and grabbed his archery equipment with his free hand.  
Quincey shot him a glare. 

“Just because I’m materialistic and a bit of dandy doesn’t mean I cant survive a week without a full wardrobe, Tora. I can be minimalistic if I need to. ” 

Tora rolled his eyes so hard Poppy though they were going to fall out of his head and roll down the road. Quincey leaned passed Tora and grabbed the handles of his Louis Vuitton bag, tossing it over one shoulder, and muttering something about needing coffee to Gyu, ignoring the smug look on his brother’s face.  
Gyu simply nodded in agreement, grabbed his backpack and his archery gear and closed the tailgate. Following Tora and Poppy up the stone walkway to their rented cabins. 

Upon reaching their destination, Tora set the luggage on the front porch of the small cabin. He waited for Gyu and Quincey to make their way to where he and Poppy stood, before he spoke.

“Gyu, I’m going to head down to the front desk and get checked in. Ya name’s on the reservation, so ya gotta come with me.”

Gyu sighed, still not quite with it after his car nap, staring longingly into his empty travel mug.

“Alright Big Bro. Lets go then so I can come back and make some coffee.”

Tora furrowed his eyebrows at the smaller, copper haired man.

“I don’t know why ya need coffee, its –“

he pulled back the sleeve on his Henley tee shirt, checking his timepiece.

“-5:17pm.”

Gyu simply shot Tora a look. Tora chuckled under his breath and they left to make their way back down the hillside path to the front desk.


	2. Chapter 2

Quincey found a seat next to Poppy on the front steps. The fact that he sat eye to eye with her, while she was standing at full height was not lost on her. 

“What do you think we should do for dinner Quince?”

He tugged the sleeves back on his sweater, leaning back on his elbows. 

“What ever you want Poppy-dear.” 

He looked at her then, continuing. 

“I don’t want to make any of the large decisions on this trip.”

Poppy raised one of her eyebrows in speculation.

“ I know…” 

he ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up a little.

“This weekend is all about resting, recuperation, getting in touch with nature.”

He waggled his eyebrows at Poppy who rolled her eyes in response. 

“Heck. I might even do some people watching. A little research for my next novel.” 

He cast her a sidelong glance before smirking at her. 

“I’ll tell you what, Pops, why don’t you make the decisions this weekend?”

She chuckled to her self briefly, pulling her index finger to her chin as she did so. 

“Alright, you’re off boss duty for now Quincey, but I don’t know how Tora will feel with me being in charge.”

A wicked grin spread across his face then. He leaned into Poppy, brushing in close to her.

“Oh Poppylan,” 

he hummed sing-songingly into her ear. 

“That tiger is no more than a kitten in your hands and you know it. He’ll do anything you ask. Your voice is like a siren’s song to him, darling.” 

He watched her blush deepen down her neck and across her collarbone. Pleased with himself, he sat back down on the steps and leaned back onto his elbows again, looking out at the mountains. 

“Quincey…!”

She practically squeaked his name.

“Do you know what he’d do to you if he head you say that!?” 

She was aghast at his words. He waggled her eyebrows at her, making eye contact. 

“Love, I’ve known that man my entire life.” 

He said matter-of-factly.

“I know exactly what he’d do to me-“

He shivered, looking away briefly. Remembering the last time he pushed Tora’s buttons. 

“I also write erotic novels for a living.” 

He said pointedly, changing the subject away from physical harm. .

“ If he doesn’t want me to see it, he shouldn’t make it so obvious. Besides, I’ve been using that feral, beast of a man as inspiration for years, and he knows it.”

Poppy stared agape at the man sitting across from her, who now had pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and jotted something down.  
She knew the characters in Quincey’s novels were uncanny in their similarities to Tora, but that’s all she thought they were, mere coincidence. She was NOT prepared for the complete open admission of Tora being Quincey’s erotic inspiration. 

“Tora is not feral Quincey!”

He raised a questioning eyebrow at her, his gaze lingering on his notes as he reread what he had written down. 

“Isn’t he though…?”

A cool breeze blew cross her cheeks and she leaned into it. Both glad for the cooling effect it had on her flaming face, and the excuse to look away and drop this overly in-depth topic of conversation.  
~  
Tora leaned over the counter in the window of the old gypsy-wagon-turned-front-office and handed over his debit card to the young, stammering girl on the other side. Gyu stood next to him signing whatever papers were required to live there for a few days and slid them back across the desk to the clerk. He might as well have been invisible. The girl working the register openly gaped at giant beside him, shamelessly undressing him with her eyes. Tora stared at Gyu, silently willing him to go faster, clearly annoyed and uncomfortable by the teen currently eye-fucking him. 

“s’that everything Gyu?” 

He asked a little more eagerly than he intended to.

“Yeah, I signed everything they need me to sign.” 

“ Then run my card now…please.” 

He made eye contact with the girl, who blushed so hard he thought she was going to combust. He made a mental note to not make that mistake twice. 

“I’d like to get unpacked and he wants some coffee.” 

He finished with a thumb jab at Gyu. 

“Oh! Right away sir!”

She quickly turned to the card reader nearly falling over herself, fumbling with the card. Tora rolled his eyes, waiting impatiently for her to manually enter his card number. 

“It’ll be just a minute!”

She stammered out. 

Tora inwardly groaned as the sound of the dial up internet emanated from the card reader. Gyu nearly laughed out loud as he watched his boss battle with his inner turmoil. He had seen this kind of interaction with him before, it was nothing new.  
Girls threw themselves at Big Bro Tora left and right. He usually countered them with snood remarks or gave them the number to that sausage shop they eat at occasionally. He silently laughed at the thought, he figured if they wanted sausages, Tora was giving them what they asked for. 

The large man crossed his arms and impatiently tapped his fingers on his bicep. Of course it was dial up. He was pretty sure that if he made any sudden movements, this flippant girl in front of him was going to pounce at him from across the window and climb him like a mountain.  
He silently willed the machine to go faster. He hated being looked at like a piece of meat. 

A quaint, robotic chime indicted that the payment was successful, and she pulled the card out of the reader. 

“Welcome to Strawberry Park Hot Springs Mr.-“ 

“Tora.” 

He shot out before she could read the name on his card. Snatching it from her hand and turning to Gyu. 

“Lets go.” 

He hesitated for a moment, then offered an awkward “ thank you” to the girl who nearly came undone at his words.

Taking as large of steps as his legs would allow, Tora crossed the parking lot in record time, only stopping to wait for Gyu to catch up once he reached the beginning of the stone walkway. 

“Ya know Big Bro, Id kill to have a cute gal like that throw herself at me.” 

Gyu grinned at his friend. Tora turned to look at him in gross disbelief, 

“You can have her.” 

Without another word he proceeded to leave Gyu in the dust a second time as he climbed the rock steps to the cabins.  
~ ~  
Poppy watched as Tora marched up the trail to the cabins, past her on the steps and up to the front door to unlock it, grabbing the luggage and crossing the threshold with out a word.  
Her and Quince raised a what-the-fuck-is-his-problem look at Gyu who only laughed at his friend’s misfortune. 

“The cute front desk gal was eye fucking Tora while we waited for the dialup card reader process our payment.”

Poppy giggled at Tora’s luck. She knew how uncomfortable it made him when other women openly ogled at him. She couldn’t blame them, though, the man was like a living, breathing Greek god. 

“I’m surprised he didn’t hand out Fred and Fran’s number to her,” 

Quincey stated as he picked up his bag, 

“ that usually gets them off pretty quick.” 

The two men laughed at the inappropriate joke and headed down the path to the cabin next door.

“Come let me know what you decide for dinner, Darling. Gyu and I will be unpacking and making some coffee.” 

He winked at his editor-turned-friend and turned and walked away, chatting softly with Gyu.  
Poppy waved them goodbye and turned and climbed the steps, stopping to take in the view at the top before continuing in to the cabin to ease the brooding Tiger.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reader discretion warning:  
> There is going to be some questionable behavior from one of the main characters in this chapter. I realize that this may be triggering from some readers, so please read ahead with caution.

Tora finished unpacking his and Poppy’s things, arranging them neatly into the drawers of the log dresser that stood against the wall. Zipping the bags, and setting them next to it on the floor. He pulled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows and leaned casually against the upright post of the massive, log four poster bed.  
She was rummaging through the drawers in the small kitchen, intently searching for something. She chimed a small victory as she pulled can opener out of the drawer, and swiftly opened the can of mandarin oranges waiting nearby. 

“So what do you want to do for dinner, Tora?” 

She tossed the lid into the trash, turning to rinse the cutting edge of the can opener in the sink before returning it to it’s home.  
She looked up at him, forking a few oranges from the can, waiting for a reply. 

She crossed the room and hoisted herself onto the edge of the mattress next to where Tora was standing. He thought about her question briefly, watching her as she scooped the last few orange pieces out of the can, rolling her eyes to herself as half a wedge fell off her fork and tumbled between her breasts.

“Fiddlesticks.” 

She cursed to herself, and began moving to fish the rogue orange slice out of her bra when Tora hooked a finger into the neckline of her shirt. He promptly tugged it down down over her breasts far enough for him to remove the offending orange wedge with his teeth, and grinned to himself as he felt her stiffen beneath him.

Stunned by the sudden proximity of his mouth, Poppy watched as he brushed his lips up over the swell of her breast. Raking his teeth across her collar bone, then pressing open mouth kisses into the curve of her neck. 

She sucked in a sharp breath as he bit down in her pulse, feeling her heart quicken in her chest. He continued nibbling his way across her jaw, and down the other side of her neck, his mouth like a hot iron on her skin. He ran one of his hands across her side and up her belly to her chest, cupping her fully. He brushed his thumb over the rise of her breast, tucking his hand into the cup of her bra. He brushed his thumb over her nipple, flicking it until it was hard, then pinching it between two fingers. 

“ hah… Tora…”

Poppy sucked in another sharp breath as he bit down on the other side of her neck.

“ hmmm..?” 

The vibration of his response hummed through her.  
Poppy could feel the tension pooling in her pelvis as he trailed his mouth across the curves of her shoulders. He leaned over her then, forcing her to lay back on the mattress, yanking her to the edge of the bed by her ankles.

Tora found the horizontal log on the bed frame that surrounded the box spring with his shins and propped one of his feet up on it, draping her leg around him, allowing him to stand perfectly in line with her center. He grinned inwardly, noting that the top of the mattress matched the height of his hips. 

‘Perfect for leverage’ 

he thought to him self. He ran a hand up her thigh, squeezing the sensitive place where her hip and leg come together. She let out a breathy moan as he trailed his mouth down to her breasts again. His fingers working the other nipple now.

He pulled back the fabric of her bra and took the first nipple into his mouth. Flicking it with his tongue, drawing out another throaty sigh from Poppy. Her mandarin orange can forgotten on the bed beside her, she ran her fingers through his hair, gently raking her fingernails against his scalp. He bit back a moan as he gently rolled her nipple between his teeth. She let out a small yelp, feeling the heat gathering between her legs rapidly. 

Tora pulled her against him, wrapping her other leg around his waist, her ass barely supported by the edge of the bed. He ground himself hungrily into her.  
Poppy’s hips bucked against him as she tossed her head back against the mattress. 

“Mmmm ngggh… Tora-“ 

He ground into her again. Cutting her off, drawing out another throaty moan. 

He fucking loved hearing her say his name in the heat of her passion. It made him hard as fuck. Knowing that even fully clothed she was putty in his hands and that made him dizzy with need. He kissed his way up her neck and nibbled on her ear, listening to the gaspy breaths she was letting out. 

“Say my name again Poppy,” 

he growled in her ear, tracing his hand across her abdomen. He pressed more open mouth kisses across her jaw, while his knuckles drew lazy circles around her sex through the cotton of her jeans. He hovered over her, lips barely brushing hers. She met his eyes and leaned up to try to kiss him. He grinned slyly, keeping his mouth just out of her reach.

“Ah ah sweetheart,”

he flicked her clit lightly, watching her flex beneath him again.

“I want ya to tell me what ya want.”

He raked his teeth across her shoulder again, listening to her throaty moans as he continued making circles with his fingers. 

“hah… hah…ooooh… I...”

He pressed into her harder. Biting into the curve of her neck. 

“mmmm hah.. I want youuuu…” 

He was glaringly aware of the pressure of his erection pulsating uncomfortably in his jeans.  
He crashed into her mouth with his, swallowing her moans as he flicked open the button of his jeans. Giving his raging arousal the room it needed. He made quick work of the button and zip at the top of Poppy’s jeans, and worked his hand up and under the hem of her shirt.  
He pulled his mouth way from hers, drawn to the exposed skin of her midsection, and began kissing his way down her abdomen, toward the open zip of her pants. 

“Poppylan...you’re so damn sexy.”

He pulled back the waistline of her pants to kiss her hip. 

“Do you have any idea what you fucking do to me?”

Her breath hitched as he nibbled at the soft skin around her hip bones. She curled her fingers into his hair again and gently pulled him up to her so she could claim his mouth. He moaned into her as she slowly raked her fingernails across his shoulders and into his biceps. He ground into her again, grabbing her hands in his and pinning them over her head by her wrists.  
She watched as raw desire stormed through his amber eyes, dangerously seductive. 

She loved it when he looked at her like that. Like she was the most desirable thing on the planet. She grinned at him sinfully, before diving back into his mouth, allowing him do deepen their kiss by parting her lips with his tongue...

SKRRRRRAAARRRCCHHHH

Tora froze. The deafening, unmistakable sound of a chair being drawn across a wood floor echoing loudly through his mind. 

“Oh! Don’t let me stop you, please continue.” 

Out of his peripheral vision, Tora watched a he was waved off by his blonde brother.

How the FUCK had he snuck up on him like that? How did he not hear him approaching?  
Tora huffed out a frustrated breath, re-buttoning Poppy’s jeans, and then his own. Clenching his jaw in annoyance.  
He looked up at Poppy’s face. She was staring into the ceiling, absolutely glazed over with mortification.  
Yep.  
Quincey was a dead man.  
Tora lifted himself away from Poppy. 

“What do ya want Quince?” 

Tora was terse, speaking through gritted teeth. 

“ You know, one of these days you’re going to have to let me watch. The material I would get from viewing the tiger and his flower would surely garner another best seller.”

Quincey propped his chin on his fingers for a moment before pulling out his pocket book, quickly scribbling something onto the pages.

“The…tiger…and…his…flower…”

he said aloud as he wrote. 

“Any...idea…what…you…fucking…do…to…me…”

Poppy willed the floor boards below the bed to open up and swallow her whole. She had NEVER been caught in the act of anything remotely scandalous. An now, here she was, sprawled across the bed like a wanton, with a NY Times best selling erotica novelist as her witness.  
She wanted to dissolve into the mattress.  
How long had he been there? What did he see? What had he heard? Oh my god!  
And did he seriously just suggest he sit and watch as they…as they…  
She couldn’t even bring herself to think it. 

Poppy finally moved, draping an elbow over her eyes. Trying to convince herself this was just a dream. A really awkward, mortifying, realistic dream. 

“Not a fuckin chance, Quinceton. Now what the fuck do ya want?”

Poppy silently thanked Tora for responding for the both of them. She would rather die right now, then have to look Quincey in the eye.  
Quincey stuck out his bottom lip in protest, and harumphed before he answered Tora, who was now standing across the table from him with his arms crossed, tapping his fingers in annoyance. 

“Fine. I’m hungry. So is Gyu. I came over to make dinner plans.” 

Tora rolled what Quincey said around in his mind for a few moments before responding. 

“Give us five minutes. That gives Poppy some time to get cleaned up. We’ll be over when she’s done.”

Quincey stood, and hesitated. Tora grabbed the man by the shoulders and steered him out of the cabin, slamming the door behind him.  
He turned back to Poppy, who was standing in the bathroom, splashing her face with cold water gripping the edge of the sink.  
He crossed over to her.

“Poppylan-“

“I don’t even want to talk about it Tora. You know jut as well as I do that he’s going to use that in his next novel, and I’ll have to beta read it for him.”

He nodded to himself, she as right. Tora knew better than anyone that nobody was safe from Quincey’s novels.  
She dried her face off with a fluffy towel, and Tora pulled her into an embrace. 

“What sounds good for dinner Tora? I was thinking that we could go into town, and get some carry out. Maybe see what kind of restaurants there are around here?”

“As long as I’m not eating pancakes for dinner, I don’t give a shit Pops. Lets go talk it over with the guys.” 

He leaned down and planted a kiss on the top of her head. 

“The princess will get hangry if we make him wait any longer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Note!  
> I am 100% for consent from all parties, always! I have added voyeurism tags to this as a warning as well. This topic isn’t going to be avoided in the plot, and I will be having the characters discuss it. I DO NOT believe what happens in this chapter is ok or acceptable, and will be tackling this giant further in the plot.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gyu and Poppy have a heart to heart, and Poppy lets us into her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kind words and support on my last chapters! I appreciate it more than you know!
> 
> I had planned on uploading this chapter sooner, but my husband and I had to make a hot shot trip up to South Dakota in the middle of the week (we live in Colorado), and I just didnt feel like I had everything written out just right before we left, and I didnt want to rush it. 
> 
> This chapter is a little on the heavy side, but I feel like its necessary for the plot and the characters. Don’t worry. Its not all going to be doom and gloom, after all, this is a vacation! This has been a blast to write!

*knock…knock knock* 

Tora stood, glaring into the wood door, his palm pressed into the trim supporting him, waiting impatiently for it to open. 

“I thought you’d never get here Booboo, were starving-“

Quincey swung open the door, unfazed by the proverbial daggers Tora was shooting from his eyes. He squinted at his brothers face, leaning in like he was trying to solve a riddle.

“Its been five minutes Quince-“ 

“Why are you knocking anyway, my casa is sue casa my hermano.” 

Tora cringed as he listened to Quincey butcher his welcome in Spanish, his temper boiling at the second dismissal of his privacy in the last ten minutes. 

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ Quince! Ya gonna royally piss someone off saying shit like that. And when ya do, I ain’t even gonna stop ‘em when they go for ya gullet.” 

Quincey gasped, splaying a hand across his on chest in disbelief. 

“You wouldn’t!”

“I would.”

The two brothers stared at each other, Tora silently challenging Quincey with his eyes. Quincey looking like a snuffed out candle, flabbergasted that his bodyguard, nay, his own brother wouldn’t protect his honor! He couldn’t believe it!

Gyu was nearly clotheslined by the tension that was radiating off of Tora. He tried to squeeze past the two men in the doorway.

“Okayyyyyy…. that’s enough of that. Lets talk about food instead because I’m ready to chew my arm off at the shoulder and grill it.”

Poppy crinkled her nose up at the thought of what Gyu had just said.  
She was leaned over the railing on the deck of Quincey and Gyu’s cabin, gazing over the hillside and down to the hot springs pools below. Trying to ignore the petty argument behind her, she lowered her gaze to a few people distantly descending into the stone-walled mineral baths. Several other milled around a small sheltered changing area. She vaguely heard the guys start discussing food, she focused in on the tiny people below, following them mindlessly with her eyes, watching their interactions with each other. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to see Gyu standing at her side, coffee mug in hand. He offered her an apology with his eyes, and nodded toward the second cup.

“I tried to stop him Pops, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s alright Gyu, its not like we were….actually…-“

“No, Poppy, its not ok.”

He cut her off, furrowing his eyebrows in frustration.

“Not only did he come into your cabin uninvited, he invaded your privacy and your right to consent. Tora’s too. I don’t know how other people are, but Big Bro has ALWAYS hounded me about consent and how important it is. And knowing what little I know about his life, he never really had much of a say in what anybody did, or what he was punished for. He’s pretty big on trust, Pops” 

Gyu leaned on the railing next to Poppy, and continued. 

“I know from first hand dealings with the man that your safety, comfort, and happiness are of huge importance to him. So much so that he got rid of that sleezeball guard at your apartment building, and secured me in that position instead. To be honest, I cant believe he handled Quincey as calmly as he did. If it were me-“ 

He hesitated, unsure if he should continue. He knew Poppy didn’t like violence, and he didnt want to upset her more. 

“Well... lets just say it wouldn’t have been pretty.” 

Poppy ran a hand over her face in a feeble attempt to wipe the embarrassment off. Letting his words sink into her. She took the mug from his outstretched hand, cupping it over the railing while she leaned over it. 

“It’s terrible.”

“I know Gyu, I was absolutely mortified. He even took notes. I don’t know what to say to him.”

“The coffee.”

Poppy turned and looked at her friend, slight confusion in her eyes. Quincey took notes about coffee too…or wanted to talk about coffee?

“What…?”

“The coffee is terrible….and maybe talk with Tora about it first. His privacy was invaded too.” 

He offered her a small smile, and continued trying to pursue his caffeine. 

“I know you’re right, Gyu.”  
She sighed  
“And I’m sure the coffee is fine, thank you for bringing it to me.”

“Don’t thank me just yet Pops.”

He chuckled, and watched her take a sip of the liquid insult. 

It was terrible. 

It tasted like she licked the inside of a steel barrel used to burn trash. 

Gyu barked out a laugh as he watched her face scrunch up. She threw a look of disgust at the offending cup. 

“Ugh. You were right about that too.”

“Poppy-dear, Gyu, are you ready to head into to town? I’m famished, and its not a state of being I like to be in.”

Quincey locked the door to the cabin, tucking the keys into his pocket and descending the steps to the trail below. Poppy hesitated.

“Hang on we need to take our cups inside.”

“Just leave them on the porch, Pops, I’ll take care of them when we get back.” 

Gyu smiled, and took the cup from her hand and left it next to his, and followed Quincey to the truck. She looked over at Tora who was waiting patiently for her, and took him by the hand.

~~

Tora slowed his gait to match Poppy’s, and allowed her to set the pace. She was still processing what had happened. Her demeanor was tugged down with a heaviness that Tora knew on a first name basis. More than anything, he wanted to chuck a rock at the back of Quincey’s head. They had barely been at the hot springs two hours and his dickhead brother had to fuck it up. She as so awestruck and joyful when they arrived, and now she was lost in thought, probably going over the scenario on repeat in her head. He bit his back molars together, trying to think of what to say. He wasn’t really a talker. Usually, he just let his fists do that for him. But he’d been trying to be less violent. Especially around Poppy. He squeezed her hand, she didn’t look up.  
He watched worry settle into her brow. .  
The last time he saw her this stressed was when they ran into that fuckboy ex of hers last fall.  
Tora fumed at the memory.

The little fuck had blamed their failed relationship on Poppy, and called her some really nasty shit to her face. It had taken her a long time to get over that encounter, And there were still times where she would blame herself for things that weren’t her fault. Tora knew that that’s what was going on in her head. And now, because of some stunt Quincey pulled, he was going to have to try to pull her back out of that rift. 

“Poppy...”  
“Yeah Tora.”  
“Talk to me, tell me what you’re thinking.”

She sighed. Yanking slightly on his hand as she kicked a rock out in frot of her. 

“I just don’t understand Tora. I feel so violated. I’m already under scrutiny from everyone who doesn’t think I’m your type, and they have the nerve to tell me that all the time. It really makes me mad. But now I feel like I cant even be intimate with you outside of our own apartments because that apparently has to be a public spectacle too…”

she trailed off. Tora glanced down at her, watching emotion storm through her eyes. 

“…and I just want that to be between you and I. Not put out on the world stage for every one to read about. I’m open for a lot of things, Tora. And maybe down the road the thought of being cast in one of Quincey’s novels wont bother me as much.”

She stopped suddenly, tearing her hand away from Tora’s and balling her fits up at her sides. 

“But he didnt ask first Tora!”  
She was practically yelling.  
“ Am I just supposed to be ok with this? Letting him waltz in whenever he pleases because he’s ‘Young Master Balthuman’? “

Tears stung the backs of her eyes, she could feel the rage building up inside of her chest. Tora watched her, listened to what she had to say. He was mad too, and justifiably so. It was one thing for Quincey to totally disregard Tora’s privacy, he’d done it for years, it didn’t mean it was ok, but Tora was used to it. Poppy didn’t deserve to be defiled like this. 

“Ugh! I’m so angry at him!”

Tears slipped from her eyes and she aggressively wiped them off with her sleeve. 

“My privacy was evaded! Your privacy was evaded! Argh! I just want to kick a rock into his smug face!”

She booted another rock down the path in front of her, turning to look over the hillside. She stood silent, crying angry tears. Tora came up behind her and turned her around into his chest and wrapped her in his arms. Planting a kiss into her hair. 

“ I’m sorry Bobby, and I know that me apologizing doesn’t excuse his behavior. I’m just sorry that you have to deal with this. I’ll make it right.”

She squeezed him around the middle, then looked up into his amber eyes.

“I don’t need you to fix it Tora, I just need you to support me.”  
She reached up onto her tiptoes to kiss him gently, then took hold of his hand again, walking in silence to the truck.

~~

The trip into town was relatively quick. Poppy marveled this to Tora at some point, and he explained to her that it was because the hot springs were only ten miles out of town.

Tora pulled onto a Side street and stopped outside of a local barbecue joint. Gyu stepped out to pick up the food they had ordered on the way into town. 

“Did you still want to swing into a grocery store and pick up some things for this weekend?”

Tora leaned slightly over the console and spoke to Poppy directly. 

“Yes, I would. I’ll grab some things for meals and snacks…”  
she thought back on the putrid coffee she had had before they left and shuddered.  
“I’ll get some better coffee too.” 

She tapped ‘grocery store near me’ into the search bar of her phone and directed Tora to one on the other side of the Main Street area in town.  
Tora pulled the pickup into a parking space near the entrance, and put it in park, slipped his debit card out of his wallet and into the pocket on Poppy’s sweater, silently relieved when she didn’t balk at him for insisting to pay for everything. 

“Gyu, would you mind taking Poppy in to get some things?”

He asked over his shoulder to Gyu, not averting his gaze from Poppy.

“Nah Big Bro, I don’t mind. I can do that.”

Gyu thought about asking Tora why he didn’t just go in with her instead, but upon seeing him slice though Quincey with his eyes, he thought better of it, already knowing the answer.

“Get whatever you need sweetheart,”

Tora leaned over and kissed Poppy on the cheek. Before turning his full attention to the blonde man, now cowering under the weight of his stare in the backseat. 

“Quincey and I have some things we need to talk about.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tora talks to Quincey. Quincey struggles internally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another heavy chapter, but its soo necessary for the characters’ depth. Don’t worry, we’ll get back to fluff here soon. Thanks for reading <3

Poppy grabbed a few more things she thought she might need to make meals for the long weekend, and put them in the buggy Gyu was pushing. She worked her way over to the meat department, and requested several fillets of fish, two pounds of shrimp, some skirt steak, and a few pounds of bacon. 

“Will you grab two dozen eggs please Gyu? Then meet me in the baking supplies isle, and I’ll get some pancake mix and some better coffee.”

“Sure thing Pops, I’ll meet you over there in a minute.”

Poppy stared at the wall of coffee, trying to make a decision. She pinched her chin between her thumb and forefinger and hermmed audibly. She settled on a medium roast, and hoped it would suffice. She figured she could scrape up some rocks out of the bottom of a river and brew it, and it would make a better cuppa joe than whatever vile insult she had back at the cabin. On her way over to Gyu and the cart, she stopped and grabbed a tin of green tea, the kind she had seen in Tora’s kitchen in his apartment, and a tea ball. She smiled to herself, knowing that he would be glad to have it to sip on in the morning. He was not a coffee drinker.

Gyu turned into the baking supplies isle and watched Poppy thoughtfully pick out a specific can of something, and place it in the cart. Smiling to herself as she told him she was ready to go, before turning and leading him to the front of the store to check out. He peeked over the handle of the cart and saw that it was a tin of loose green tea. He smiled inwardly to himself. He knew it was for Tora.  
Even though the man was built like a brick shit-house, and executed the role of ‘Mafia enforcer’ incredibly well, he took deep comfort in things like green tea, solitude, Tiger bentos, and cute, feisty little women named Poppylan.  
Gyu was touched by the thoughtfulness of his friend. If anyone deserved the kind, soft love that this woman so readily gave, it was Tora. She was so damn thoughtful.  
She had considered everyone’s needs tonight, meandering up and down the isles. He silently thanked the gods that she had graced him with her friendship. They really were lucky to have her around.  
He helped the bagging clerk load the plastic sacks into the cart, and thanked him for bagging their groceries. Poppy paid the cashier, thanked them both, and they headed back out to the truck.  
~~  
-45 minutes earlier- 

Tora watched as Poppy and Gyu crossed the parking lot to the entrance of the store, leaning his elbow on the windowsill and running a hand through his hair, silently talking himself through what he needed to say to Quincey. He followed their steps with his eyes until they had disappeared behind the sliding doors of the grocery store. Tora shifted in his seat, turning just far enough to rest his forearm on the console, staring straight out of the windshield into the darkness of the evening. He watched the last of the sunlight fall out of the sky and sink into the earth, allowing it to calm him before he spoke to his brother. 

“That was a real Vincent move you pulled earlier, Quincey.”

Tora didn’t need to look at Quincey to know the force at which his words pummeled through him. He knew better than anyone just how much Quincey hated being compared to his father. Vincent was a cold, ruthless, destroyer. He used his reputation to strike fear into the heart of his victims, always requiring one of his ‘dogs’ to take care of whatever problem he had, so that he didn’t have to get his hands or his image dirty. 

Quincey wasn’t like that. He was the furthest thing from it, actually. He was soft, emotional, always trying to bring happiness to others. The man wrote romance novels for fucks sake, a complete sucker for love.  
Quincey and Vincent couldn’t have been more different from each other. Where Vincent used his a name and clout to get what he wanted; to further pad his ego and destroy anything that made him look bad, Quincey refused. 

His blonde, tender-hearted brother absolutely refused to use his name for gain. He busted his ass to get to where he was. Using a pen name to publish his works instead of his status. Tora knew that Quincey being the spitting image of his father was one of the only things Quincey hated about himself, and he did everything in his power to not follow in his father’s footsteps. He all but turned himself inside out to become his own person, with his own identity, apart from his father’s image.  
Tora was incredibly proud that Quincey was as detached from Vincent as he was. He knew he could trust him, he knew Quincey genuinely cared about him and silently thanked him for being emotionally available, unlike their father. 

“You didn’t stop to think about how what you were doing was going to affect others.”

Tora continued.

“Poppy told me before we left that she feels like you’re using your status to bully her into getting what you want, and to justify your lack of respect toward her privacy.” He paused, “I know that’s not the case, Quince. You and I have a different kind of understanding for one another. I know you didn’t mean to come off like some arrogant asshole who gets and does whatever you want. But, that’s exactly what you did and you crossed a line. Poppy doesn’t understand you like I do Quincey. She is hurt by what you did today. She feels violated and betrayed, and that’s not ok.”

He paused, and shifted back over to the windowsill to lean his arm on it and exhaled harshly, 

“I’ve spent so much time earning her trust, making sure she is safe, and feels safe around me. Around us. And I’ll be damned if you think you’re going to fuck that up by dismissing her right to consent for your own personal gain.”

He stopped, carefully weighing out what he was going to say next, then turned in his seat to finally look at Quincey. Tora could see the storm of emotion roaring through Quincey’s eyes. He gave him a few more moments, resting a hand on the wheel, and tapping his thumb on it. Fuck, he wanted a cigarette. 

“I know you dont like talking about it Quince, but I’ve spent my whole life having my rights stripped away from me, and you know it. Being denied consent, trust, and getting the fuck beat outta me if I didn’t comply. I never had a say in anything I went through.”

He fished a cigarette out of the pocket of his sweater that was thrown on the floor of the truck. He lit it, inhaling deeply, letting the nicotine sink into his system, rubbing his temple with his opposite hand, exhaling the smoke out his nose through the open window.

“If you continue to dismiss and ignore her boundaries Quincey, you’re going to lose your editor and probably your friendship. And you cant even fault her for that.”

Tora closed his eyes. Sucking in a deep hit of his cigarette, before he flicked the butt out into the parking lot. Letting the smoke sear into his lungs before letting it go. They sat in deafening silence.  
Tora knew Quincey had heard every word that had come out of his mouth. He knew the impact they had on him. He looked up at him through the rear-view mirror, watching Quincey’s inner battle with himself.

He sighed, moving his gaze to look out at the nameless figures crossing the parking lot. 

“You’re still my brother, Quincey, and a stunt like barging uninvited into my room isn’t going to change that. But it isnt just my room. Its Poppy’s too. I’m calling you out on your bullshit because you told me a long time ago that if you ever started to act like Vince, to stop you and shake you out of it. You aren’t that kind of person, Quincey…I know what I said hits deep, and I’m sorry to be the one who has to do it, but it’s my job to look out for you, and I don’t want to see you ruin your life.”

He stared out of the open window, hitting his word quota for the week. Mindlessly watching the cars driving down the Main Street in town, wondering what Gyu and Poppy were picking up inside, hoping he hadn’t totally squashed Quincey, but also feeling justified in his words because Quincey was totally out of line. He rocked his head from side to side, stretching out the tension in his shoulders. 

“No, you’re right.” 

Quincey’s voice drifted to his ears from the backseat. 

“I royally fucked things up today. I wasn’t thinking, and assumed it would be fine. I more meant it as a joke, but now I see just how badly I violated Poppy’s privacy…your privacy…”

He turned his head to look from the hands in his lap, to out the side window. 

“Fuck Tora, I write about consent. I write about how sexy it is and how it should be normalized, and here I am doing the exact opposite.”

He brought his hand up to his face as if to hide his shame, holding his forehead in the pads of his fingers, staring down at the floorboards. 

“Being a hypocrite, and assuming I can do what I want because I-“

Tora’s ears perked at the sound of Quincey’s voice cracking. He sat up in his set and turned to look at him fully, so that Quincey knew he had his undivided attention. Quincey sucked in a shaky breath, 

“I...I was bullied for so many years because I’m ‘Young master Balthuman’. I hate it and I NEVER wanted to use that for personal gain...”

His voice broke again, and Tora watched his little brother battle with his own self loathing. Quincey clenched his fists in his lap and met Tora’s eyes, tears broke through their lash barrier, running down his cheeks. 

“and now one of my dearest friends thinks I’m using my father’s status to dismiss her rights as a human. As a woman. Like some sick, twisted fuck. It didn’t even cross my mind that I would be doing the same things he used to do to you-“

He looked away from Tora, ashamed at what Tora might see in his eyes. He clenched his molars together, fighting to keep himself from falling apart entirely. He inhaled through his nose and continued.

“I’m sorry Tora. I’m sorry that I broke your trust. That I dismissed your privacy. And that I’ve fucked up the weekend before it even started. I’m sorry that you had to tell me that I was acting just like *him*. That you had to pull my own head out of my ass.”

He used the back of his sleeve to wipe the tears from his face, trying to compose himself.  
These were angry tears. He wasn’t angry at Tora, or Poppy. He was angry at himself. For letting himself to get too comfortable, forgetting where he came from. Angry that he was so blind to his own arrogance that Tora had to pull his head out of his ass for him. How could he not have seen how he had hurt his friends? His Family? He wanted to kick himself for falling into the life of privilege and forgetting how it made everyone else around him feel. How it ultimately made him feel. It made him feel like the biggest piece of shit on the planet. 

Tora watched as Quincey battled with his thoughts, knowing all too well what he was dealing with. 

“Accepted Quince, and I’ll always keep you from turning into an arrogant, narcissistic asshole, you don’t need to worry about that.”

He reached his arm into the backseat and patted Quincey on the leg. 

“But Poppy is going to be harder to win back. You’re going to have to be honest with her, or she’ll never trust you again.” 

He made eye contact with Quincey for another moment before he turned back to the steering wheel, resting his hand on it again. They sat in silence for several more minutes before Quincey spoke again. 

“Thank you, Tora.”

He met Quincey’s eyes in the review mirror and offered him a raised, confused eyebrow. 

“For pulling me back into reality. For shaking me out of Vincent’s habits, and not letting me continue to be like him. I’m trying to be better…”

“I know Quince, and you’re welcome.” 

~~

Tora watched as people came and went through the automatic doors. He pulled the truck to the front of the store upon seeing Poppy and Gyu exit, and helped them put the grocery sacks into the back of the truck. 

“Get everything you needed?”

He asked as he opened poppy’s door for her, she nodded, and he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek before closing the door. Poppy dug out his card and returned it to him after he climbed back into the cab. 

“Thank you for paying, Tora.”

He reached his hand over to hold hers, and offered her smile.

“Anytime Sweetheart, you know that.”

The drive back to the cabin had been a quite one. Once they had turned onto the main road, Tora turned the radio on to whatever local radio station he could find. He settled on an a.m. station playing an old Ricky Van Shelton song. The volume was low, but he was glad for its company. He knew Quincey needed more time, and he really didn’t feel like having anymore conversations for a while. Poppy quietly hummed along to the radio beside him. 

He pulled into the parking lot and he and Gyu grabbed an armload of groceries. Quincey quietly stepped out of the truck and grabbed what he could before heading up the lantern lit trail to the cabins. Tora knew Quincey was upset, angry at himself. He didn’t usually buck down and silently take on physical labor with out saying something about it. Only when he was angry did he take on anything strenuous. Not that the groceries were a heave, but he took more than Tora and Gyu had, and was leagues ahead of them on the steep path. Gyu watched as Quincey ascended the hillside, and looked over at Tora with a questioning, but knowing glance. Tora nodded at Gyu, then turned to Poppy, taking her hand in his free hand. 

“Lets go eat, I vaguely remember someone threatening to barbecue their arm.”

Poppy giggled, and squeezed his hand, before tossing a grin at Gyu. 

“Alright Tiger, after you. Are you sure you don’t want me to carry some of those Gyu?”

“Nah Pops, I got it handled.” 

He returned her smile, and followed Quincey up to the cabins.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is quite a bit longer, but it didnt feel right splitting it up. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Gyu pulled out everyone’s meals once they had returned to the cabins, and Poppy sorted through the groceries and put things away in their temporary home. They had decided that since Poppy was going to do most of the cooking, any of the ingredients for meals she had planned would stay in her and Tora’s cabin. The four of them ate their meal in relative peace. . Gyu and Poppy shared light conversation and Tora kept a lingering eye on Quincey who was currently pushing a spoon through the vegetables on his plate, seemingly uninterested in them. 

“Hey Big Bro, the pools are open until midnight, you want to head down there after dinner?”

Gyu was forking the last of his fried zucchini squash. Tora glanced up at him from across the table. 

“Still got a kink in your neck, eh?” 

He stood to take his plate into the kitchen, grabbing Poppy’s on his way past her. 

“Ill join you. You two wanna come?”

Tora raised a questioning glance at Poppy and Quincey still sitting at the table. He scrubbed their plates clean before drying them off with a hand towel. 

“ I think I’ll wait until tomorrow. I’d like to unwind, maybe write a little.”

Quincey stood to join Tora in the kitchen, patting him on the bicep as he passed behind him. 

“You’ll have to give me your review on the springs when you get back though.”

“Whatever Quince,”

Tora socked him on the shoulder for good measure, Quincey cast him a What-the-hell glance before he shrugged away, rubbing his arm. Tora turned his attention toward Poppy, a mischievous look in his eyes. She smiled softly at him, and crossed the room, reaching a hand out to his hip, gently pulling him into her and splaying her other hand on his chest. Tora felt his pulse quicken at her touch. 

“You go on ahead with out me tonight.”

She stood up on her toes to plant a light kiss on his cheek, whispering up into his ear before pulling away from him, tossing him a wink and turning back toward Gyu, taking his plate to the sink.  
~~  
Poppy had cleared the rest of the leftovers, tucking them into the fridge, and put the kettle on the stove to warm some water for tea. She tugged the curtains down in the windows and pulled her PJs out of the dresser, heading into the bathroom to change for the night. As she pulled her hair into a messy bun at the back of her head, she heard the whistle of the kettle and moved swiftly to the kitchen to take it off the heat, pouring it over her herbal tea. She crossed over to the living room area of the cabin, digging through her messenger bag and pulling Quincey’s latest manuscript out along with a red ink pen. She stirred a little honey into her tea and went to sit on the couch, pulling a woven blanket over her lap.  
Poppy marked several typos and a sentence fragment, circling another error, and wrote a suggestion in the margin. She was halfway through the next page when she herd a soft knocking at her door. She set the manuscript on the coffee table and crossed over to the door to open it. She as only half surprised to see Quincey standing in her threshold, a distant, stormy look in his eyes. 

“Oh, Quincey, I thought you were going to be writing tonight…? Would you like to come in? I was just editing your last manuscript.”

“Actually, Poppylan, I was wondering if you would sit on the deck with me, there’s something I need to talk to you about.” 

Poppy looked up into his eyes, watching something brew in them. It was the same look Tora would get when he was processing something he had to do that made him hate himself.  
She turned in the doorway slightly, before responding to him. 

“Of course Quincey, let me grab a blanket.”

Poppy went back into the cabin to grab the blanket off the couch and her tea and made her way out to the stairs of the cabin where Quincey was sitting. She wrapped the blanket around herself and waited for Quincey to speak.

He was quiet for several long minutes. Clearly battling with himself in his mind. Poppy took that time to gaze up at the stars, they were so bright and there were so many of them. She tried to count them, finding it nearly impossible, and was lightly startled when Quincey finally spoke. 

“Ive spent my whole life watching my father destroy other people. Destroy trust, boundaries, rules and I hate him for it. I’ve never wanted to be like him.”

He was looking out in front of him, staring down a foe Poppy couldn’t see. 

“I never wanted to use his status... or my status to make a life for myself. I never wanted to be ‘Young Master Balthuman’. I’m proud of where I am in my life now, though. How far away from him and his ways I have come. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but Im glad I was able to make myself into my own person. ”

He shifted his gaze down to the ground in front of him. Rolling something around in his mind. Poppy watched him, let him work it out into words. 

“But sometimes I mess up. I forget where I came from, forget how easy it is to fall back into his influence. I get used to the life of privilege and lose the sense of how that makes me feel. How that makes those around me feel.”

He exhaled heavily though his nose, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, folding his hands together.  
He turned his head to Poppy, and looked her square in the eye. She was slightly taken back, looking into the severity of the hurt in the eyes of her friend, but she didn’t avert her gaze. He moved his mouth as if what he was going to say was a marble between his teeth, mustering up whatever courage he could to right this wrong. 

“Poppy, I’m sorry for what I did today. I completely messed up. I didn’t mean to hurt you or break your trust… but I did. And I see that now. I didn’t think about how that would make you feel betrayed and like you don’t matter. I got too comfortable with you and denied you the most basic rights as a human. I didn’t have your consent to even come into your cabin, and yet I did.”

He looked away from her, and laced his hands into his hair, staring between his feet, his elbows resting on his knees. 

“I understand that you may not want to be my editor anymore…or my friend. And I deserve that. But I just want you to know that I’m sorry I hurt you, and I hope that you can forgive me someday.”

He leaned back onto one elbow, and fished something out of his pocket, handing it to Poppy. It was a folded sheet of notebook paper. She rubbed her thumb over the folded edge of it, before she heard him continue. 

‘I want you to have that. I don’t care what you do with it. You can use it as kindling. You can rip it to shreads… its not mine, and its not my business. And I don’t want you constantly feeling like I’m going to use it against you.”

He paused for a long minute, thinking about what he wanted to say next. 

“I spent my lifetime watching my big brother have his rights and consent stripped away from him, never shown any mercy, used and treated like a dog...”  
His voice broke then and Poppy looked up at his face, seeing tears slight his cheeks as he looked out into the darkness. He inhaled shakily, 

“I dont want anyone to experience what he went though at the hands of my father… or at my hands. I don’t want you to fear me, or worry that I’m going to use my father’s status to abuse your trust like he abused Tora-“

Poppylan had heard enough. She reached out to touch his arm, stopping him mid sentence. He turned to look at her, sincerity flooding his eyes.

“That’s enough, Quincey.”

She leaned in and hugged him tightly, trying to help her broken friend put his pieces back together.  
They sat there for several minutes, Quincey squeezing Poppy to his chest as if he though she would evaporate into thin air.

“You’ve apologized Quincey, and I can see just how much this has affected you. Please, don’t turn in on your self. You are not a bad person.”

She pulled away from him then, but kept close in proximity. She searched his eyes and continued,

“You aren’t your father, Quincey. You never will be,”

He looked away from her then, unable to keep eye contact. Ashamed she might see just how afraid of that statement he really was. 

“You made a mistake today. And I appreciate you coming to me about it, and making it right. I’m not going to lie to you, I was angry, and rightfully so. But I think I understand where you are, and how you didn’t mean for it to be so harmful. I know how close you and Tora are, and I know your boundaries with each other are different than they are with me.”  
She turned to look out at the dark horizon, tugging the blanket back up around her shoulders. 

“I accept your apology Quincey. Thank you for making things right between us.”

He stared at her. Shock and relief making waves through his features. 

“R-really?”

He looked back down at his feet, wringing his hands together. 

“…thank you for trusting me again, Poppy. I promise I’ll never dismiss your right to consent again. Your comfort and trust are important to me too, just as they are to Tora. I haven’t been allowed to have many close friendships in my life…and I don’t want to ruin the ones I do have.” 

She looked at him then, and offered him a little smile, before wrapping him in another hug.  
They held it for a moment before Poppy remembered the wedge of paper in her hand and pulled away from him to open it. She slid her fingers into the creases, and read what it said. It was the ‘Notes’ he had taken earlier. She let a small smile press into her lips.  
Now that she wasn’t dying of embarrassment, reading what he had written didn’t seem so shameful. She ran her thumb across the words Tora had spoken to her in earnest earlier in the day, a slight blush forming on her cheeks. It really was romantic, almost sappy. She let out a quiet giggle. The man certainly had a way with words.

“You know Quince, I’m really touched by your actions. Thanks you for giving me this back,”

She held the unfolded piece of paper up in the light flooding out of the windows of the cabin.

“But I think this would be something I’m ok with you having, and including in your books. These words are just that, words. And they are pretty spicy, too, I’ll admit.” 

She chuckled and blushed harder. Deciding to wrap this conversation up before she turned into a beacon. 

“Maybe next time just ask us first.”

She smiled at him then, as he looked at her from his place on the steps, and handed him back the sheet of paper. 

~~  
Tora and Gyu ambled down the path to the parking lot, passing the gypsy wagon and following the trail down to the pools. It was a warmer evening for autumn, the silhouettes of the lodge pole pines towering over them brushing the sky. Tora followed the outline of the giants up to their tops, stopping in his tracks. He had never even a night sky like this, at least not that he could think of. They were completely blanketed with stars. In the city you were lucky to see any stars at all. The hazy glow of the cityscape bleeding into the darkness of the sky, always washing out the heavens. But here, they were so big and so bright. They felt close to him that Tora wondered if he could reach out and touch them. He smirked to himself, wondering what Poppy would say if he brought her back a twinkling star. 

He looked back down at the path, and moved briskly to catch up with Gyu, who hadn’t noticed he stopped. The trail was lit every couple of yards with small lanterns. He stopped at the bottom of the trail, lingering over a small wooden bridge. The stream beneath it casting steam up, enveloping Tora’s legs. He followed the stream up the hillside to where it bubbled out of a rocky ledge with ‘Danger, do not touch’ signs posted around it. He brought his attention back to the steam below his feet, turning to look out over the small bridge to where the stream emptied into several large pools of water. He could make out the shadows of several people lounging in the mineral baths. 

He made his way over to the open walled, covered changing area where Gyu was waiting for him. He noticed the open wood slat flooring that allowed the steam from the parent springs to come up through the floor. He removed his shoes and kicked off his joggers, folding them and setting them on a wooden bench before removing his shirt. 

As they stepped out towards the pools, he was able to more clearly make out the figures in the water, several of which had noticed him and Gyu stepping through the rocky sand and down the stone steps into the main pool. He ignored them and waded to the far end of the mineral bath. The water was a few degrees above comfortable, and Tora shivered as goosebumps rippled down his neck and arms as he slipped in up to his chest. He exhaled deeply as the heat lulled the stress out of his body, and wandered over to the rock wall where Gyu was sitting on a stone bench concealed by the water. He propped himself up, and closed his eyes, allowing the softness of the mineral water to lap away at his tension. He heard Gyu sigh lightly beside him and the two sat in relaxed silence. 

Tora was slightly annoyed when his ears perked to the distant sloshing of water, noticing that it was getting nearer to them on the wall. He silently willed whoever was approaching them to go away. The sloshing stopped, but he could feel the ripples brushing across his chest, indicting that whoever felt they needed to come over to them had reached their destination. Tora didn’t open his eyes. Maybe if he played dead they would leave him alone. 

“Hey boys,” 

The fruity voice pierced Tora’s peace like an arrow. 

“Fancy meeting you here. Mind if I…slip in?”

It was familiar. Tora kept his eyes closed. Trying to place the honeyed pitch. He felt Gyu stiffen next to him in the water

“Uh...”

Gyu hesitated and then shifted way from Tora. Awkwardly making room for this stranger. It irritated Tora, but whoever this girl was must have been cute or Gyu would have already told her off. He just wished that Gyu would take her to his own corner of the springs and leave him be. He inhaled deeply through his nose, doing his best to re-center himself. 

“You know,” 

The sugar voice continued. Chucking another brick into the walls of Tora’s concentration.

“I didn’t think I’d run into you here tonight, but I’m glad I …stuck around.”

Annoyance was starting to creep up Tora’s neck, it was like nails on a chalk board. He bit his back molars together in agitation. 

“You look better than I imagined.”

He froze in place as realization clocked Tora like a sack of rocks, and he had to physically restrain himself from bolting, forcing his eyes to stay closed. It was the front desk girl.  
Of course it was.  
Perched between him and Gyu, she must have been feeling more courageous under the veil of the evening. She definitely wasn’t this chatty earlier. 

Shit.  
He should have just stayed at the cabin with Poppy. 

He prayed to any god that would listen to him that this girl wold be here to see Gyu and not him...

Who was he kidding? She had barely even acknowledged Gyu’s existence earlier. And why the hell wasn’t Gyu saying anything? He groaned inwardly. Wondering if either of them would notice if he sunk under the water and swam away. 

“So, it’s Tora, right?” 

His patience was dwindling. He felt her shift in the water next to him. He silently begged Gyu to save him. To say something to this girl to make her leave him alone and be interested in Gyu instead. Hell, he could tell her he was gay, he did not care. It wouldn’t be the first time someone accused him of that. 

“I’m Lauryn.”

He heard Gyu stumble out an awkward introduction. 

“I’m sorry about my friend, but he’s kinda an ass. You’d do better to leave him alone.”

Thank fuck, Gyu wasn’t totally useless or oblivious to Tora’s dire state of distress. 

“Oh, well I don’t mind a bad boy.”

He heard Gyu choke slightly at her remark. Was she for real? Tora had started to plan his get away when the unmistakable sensation of someone tracing the Koi fish on his arm made him recoil. She had some nerve! 

He threw open his eyes and was about to tell her to fuck off as his sight adjusted to the darkness.  
There, mere inches from him, was that front desk girl, Lauryn, naked as the day she was born. Tora suddenly understood all the mannerisms that Gyu had presented over the last five minutes. 

“What the fuck!?”

Tora pushed himself away from her with his legs, which was a mistake, because her naked body was now rocking in the wake he created with his movement. He looked around at the rest of the shadows in the pools, grimly realizing that he and Gyu were the only two there clad in any type of clothing.  
He threw a panicked look over Lauryn’s shoulder at Gyu, who stared at Tora wide-eyed. 

She furrowed her eyebrows and pressed her mouth into a line, 

“Its clothing optional after dark.”  
She shrugged,  
“I figured someone like you wouldn’t mind either. Thought you’d be naked too-“

He watched a blush creep across her nose.  
Absolutely fuckin not. This was not happening. 

All the years of training he had endured, and every defense tactic he had ever learned proved totally useless as he bored holes into Gyu’s head with his eyes. He couldn’t believe this was happening. What the fuck was he supposed to do? 

“Uh-, No. I’m Not.”

He finally stammered out, making furious eye contact with her, doing everything in his power to respect her nakedness. 

“You could be…” 

Tora watched Gyu’s mouth hang open at the audacity of this girl. Bold didn’t even begin to describe it. What happened to the shy, stammering girl that had been behind the counter? 

Tora stumbled backward in the water as she moved closer to him. What the fuck was going on? Was this seriously happening? He was abruptly stopped by the rock wall that he had backed into, putting his hands up in an innocent gesture, also making sure they were out of the water so she couldn’t press herself into them. 

“Look, I’m not interested in what ever it is you’re offering. I’m not on the market...”

He threw a look of sheer desperation at Gyu, remembering what his friend told him after their first encounter with her today. 

“He is though,”

Tora jabbed a finger at Gyu.

“and he thinks your cute. So talk to him, not me. 

She closed the gap between them, reaching out and placing her index finger on the peony on his chest. 

“You could be on the market.”

She winked at him, flattening her palm to his chest, leaning into him. 

Nope. Tora had had enough. Didn’t he already ask nicely for her to leave him alone? God dammit, no fuckin respect! In one swift movement he turned and hoisted himself up and out of the pool. Water crashing off his body furiously. He walked along the wall back to the inclosure, stoping to stuff his feet into his shoes and grab his clothes, before leaving. Gyu was on his own with this one. He didn’t care what Gyu did with her tonight. He was getting as far away from her as he could. Straight back to Poppy where he should have stayed in the first place.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know up until now things have been relatively tame. That being said, thing are going to get spicy, and fast. If you dont like it, dont read it. This is my disclaimer. Enjoy!

Gyu watched Tora’s figure stealthy disappear into the shadows.

Shit, this wasn’t good. He turned to the scantily clad girl in the water next to him and eyeballed her. She had her arms crossed, and a slight pout on her face. 

“I’d leave him be if I were you. He’s not interested.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but Gyu was already on his way out of the pool. She might have been cute, but sexual harassment wasn’t something he was into. He quickly changed out of his wet swim trunks and into his sweatpants. Shaking his head as he thought about the events he just witnessed. 

“Why not?”

She was behind him. Did she really follow him out of the water? Jesus she was dense! He didn’t turn around to look at her, knowing she was probably still naked and he did not want to deal with that any further. He wrung the water out of his suit, and spoke to her over his shoulder as he put on his shirt. 

“Because he is in a committed relationship.” 

Gyu turned and left, not willing to hear anything else she had to say. 

~~

Tora silently climbed the steps of the cabin, opening the door and letting himself in. Poppy was sitting on the couch wrapped in a thick woven blanket with a large manuscript in her lap. She was blushing furiously, clearly enamored with what ever Quincey had written. She hadn’t even noticed Tora when he walked in the door. He started to move across the room toward her, stopping, and turning back to turn the deadbolt lock.

He moved like a shadow in the lamplight of the room, watching her blush deepen as her eyes moved across the pages. He heard her gasp as she cupped a hand to her mouth, pulling the knuckle of her index finger in between her teeth. He stilled, and leaned softly against the wall in the darkness, studying her. 

“ oh my gosh… this is so racey!” 

She fanned herself, and set the manuscript down on her thighs, sipping down the last of her now cold tea. Tora grinned. She was flustered. He knew first hand, having been his beta reader for years, that some of the things Quincey wrote were hella erotic. He suppressed a low chuckle, not willing to give up his stance just yet. He thought back on how long she had been his editor, surprised Quincey could still get a rise out of her. She was definitely not as innocent as she was when he first signed on with her s his editor. He grinned to himself, who’d a thought this sweet little hamster was so feisty?

Tora watched her pick the manuscript back up, exhaling, and continuing on. He could watch her get turned on all night. He stood in the shadows for a few minutes, glad he had changed out of his wet swim trunks and back into his joggers in the bath house after he left Gyu in the hot springs.  
He watched her eyebrows knit together as she pulled her knees up, biting back down on her finger. Tora felt a jolt splice through his center as she let out a soft low moan and continued reading. She pulled her knuckle from her teeth and slid her hand down to her core, rubbing circles through her folds. She raised her eyebrows and sucked in a breath, continuing down the page, pleasuring herself as she read. 

He swallowed thickly as he watched her read through the manuscript. Poppy closed her eyes and pulled her head back, biting down on her lower lip as she released another throaty hum, which ripped through Tora’s self control. 

‘Jesus Christ, Quince.’ 

He thought to himself, 

‘What the fuck did you write about this time?’

He inhaled slowly, trying to keep a hold of himself, as she let out another low moan. She had his full attention now. Slowly raking her fingers though her most sensitive areas, her breath quickening, as she pleasured herself. She set the manuscript aside, and closed her eyes, a throaty sound escaping her lips as she dipped a finger into herself. Another wave of arousal crashed through Tora. He couldn’t handle anymore, he grabbed his pulsing erection and squeezed painfully, trying to quell his desire. 

“You keep moaning Iike that and I’m not going to have any self control left.”

He growled out, straining to keep himself composed. 

“Ah! T-Tora…!”

She jumped, scanning the room, making out his silhouette against the wall in the entryway. His head resting on the wall behind him, one hand gripping his erection behind his grey joggers. He was breathing hard.

“How…how long have you bee there?!”

He let out a low growl, and pushed himself off the wall, stalking toward her, releasing his cock so that it pressed angrily against its cotton confinement. She blushed dangerously, her eyes watching it swing back and forth with his gait as he crossed the room. 

“Long enough.”

She pulled her gaze from his groin and met his predatory stare. He kneeled down on the couch next to her, leaning into her ear, only managing a gruff whisper. 

“If it feels good, don’t stop. I like watching ya pleasure yourself.” 

He lingered for moment, and watched her color seep down the swell of her breasts. She hesitated, feeling herself ignite as his lips brushed past her ear. He gently pulled her hand back down to her folds, and rubbed her with her own fingers. She jerked her hips slightly at the added pressure of his hand, and continued stroking herself.  
He released her hand, and stared down at her with hungry eyes. She tossed her head back, and bit back down on her lip. 

“Mmmm…you like.. watching me huh?”

Asking him between sharp breaths, she felt powerfully seductive. Something about his gaze made her feel like her skin was on fire. She dipped a second finger into her slit and whimpered slightly at the added friction, rolling her hips up at the sensation. She watched him as another wave of arousal pulsed through his body, closing his eyes. His hair tumbled down around his shoulders as he lowered his head, gripping his cock again. He let out another gutteral moan, clinging to the back of the couch with his free hand. 

Something about this usually guarded man barely hanging on to his control at the sight of her pleasuring herself flipped a switch in Poppy’s brain. She pulled her fingers from herself, and drew the palm of her hand across her wetness, reaching over and grabbing his erection from him. He lurched at the contact and sucked in a heated breath as she began to stroke his length. She pushed Tora back against the armrest of the sofa hovering over him, pulling his pants down around his hips, drawing out languid moans from his throat as she worked him slowly. Returning the predatory stare he had give her just minutes before. 

“I…hah...I thought you were supposed to…hnnnng…be pleasing ya self…”

Tora’s breaths quickened. He began to rock his hips in rhythm with her hand, unable to stop himself.

“I like pleasing you more.” 

She replied, lowering herself down his body, taking as much of him into her mouth as she could. 

“I that so?…ungh!”

He thrust his hips into her mouth. Digging one heel into the cushion of the sofa, the other into the floorboards, trying desperately not to stuff his entire cock down her throat. She sucked him gently with her mouth while working his base with her still-wet hand. He pulled both arms over his head and raked his fingers through his hair, closing his eyes. Holy fuck that felt good! 

Poppy took great pride in the unraveling of this Tiger. She continued to work his shaft with her mouth, gently sucking on the head while pulling down on the base. He was tense and she could tell he was holding himself back, trying to keep himself under control. She reached down and took his sack in her hand and gently massaged it, dragging another ragged breath from him. 

She suddenly remembered something she read in Quincey’s manuscript then, and smiled sinfully to herself as she slowly worked her mouth around him. She sucked him hard, reaching her middle finger down to the very base of his cock and pressed firmly on his taint. 

A jolt of electricity flashed through Tora and he bucked his hips in response. Whatever the fuck she just did to him made his toes curl. 

“HNNNG Poppy!...Fuck!”

He flexed he thighs, frantically trying to hold onto any shred of control he had left. He felt her devilish grin around his cock as she kept her pace with her mouth. He was gonna come. Hard. He drew is eyebrows together and dug his fingers into the armrest of the couch behind his head, his breaths short and ragged. 

“Hunngh Poppylan!…hah… Fuck I’m gonna come…!”

She swiped her hand through her folds again, and released his head from her mouth, feverishly working him with her wet hand. She leaned in to him then, close to his ear, her voice a mere whisper. 

“Come for me, then.” 

He closed his eyes, sucked in a sharp breath and held it. She was like a siren in his ear. His abs flexed with each of her strokes. He was still holding himself back. She smirked, that wont do. She reached down with her other hand and pressed hard on his taint again.

“Unggh! Fuck!”

Tora threw his head back, his fingers tearing into the fabric of the the arm rest, goosebumps spreading like wildfire over his skin, and exploded into her hand. She continued to stroke him as he jerked through the waves of his orgasm. She leaned up to kiss him, brushing back the hair that was now stuck to his face. 

“How was that Tiger?” 

She locked eyes with him, a seductive, knowing glance. He stared at her, bewildered. 

“Where the fuck did you learn that?” 

He was still breathing hard, arms thrown carelessly over his head. She stepped off the couch, keeping eye contact. 

“Oh, something I read in a book once.”

She winked at him, and left to fetch him a warm, damp rag to clean up with.


End file.
